How many times have you been caught at work, in school, or in class with your laptop blasting off because of a website with video content or an ad? You have ten tabs open (and yes that is an understatement), and one of them rolls a video or plays tacky music. You get flustered, trying to figure out where it is coming from and fervently close all tabs?
If this has happened to you even once, you’ll be glad to find out that Google has found a solution for you. Google introduced a new button for the Chrome desktop browser. This button allows you to pause music and advertisements, regardless of the tab you are browsing. You don’t need to go through the hassle of finding out which one is the culprit, or shutting off all the tabs in the hopes of making it stop.
If you leave several tabs open, like I do, or need to control the volume on your favorite YouTube while you type; this button is a one-stop solution. However, there is a catch. The feature is still in its initial, experimental phase, and we have no idea how it’ll turn out. There is another catch. You’ll have to update Google Chrome beforehand. The latest version is the Chrome 77. If you already have it, follow these steps.
- Select the vertical three dots on your Chrome browser. (It’s on the upper right corner)
- Select About Google Chrome (it’s where it says Help). This will indicate which version you currently use.
- Click Relaunch. (This will require Google Chrome to restart, so make sure you’re doing nothing on your laptop, and all your work is saved)
- Viola! You’re done.
Now, here’s what you do to control the feature:
- search chrome://flags/in the address bar.
- In flags box, search Global Media Controls
- A dropdown box on the right will say Click there.
- You’ll see a Play button appear. Use it to pause or play audio.
Test whether it has been successful by playing a song on Spotify or YouTube. If you can fast forward, rewind or pause it through your keyboard, you’ve been successful.
